


To Be

by lanoirpapillon



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Constipation, F/M, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, M/M, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-23
Updated: 2012-09-29
Packaged: 2017-11-14 21:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanoirpapillon/pseuds/lanoirpapillon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s okay,” It’s not okay. “I’m fine,” I’m not fine, talk to me. “I’ll see you this weekend.” Seeing you will kill me, but for you, I’ll do it.</p>
<p>And just like that, Derek turned away, stalking down the driveway, leather jacket pulled taut across his back muscles. Walking away, without a word, without a second glance, turning his back on Stiles.</p>
<p>[A jealous!Derek prompt given to me on tumblr.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Absence

Stiles finished typing the conclusion to his biology report and collapsed onto his sofa. He couldn’t believe that it had taken him three hours to complete the assignment, let alone the fact that he was absolutely starving because it was ten at night and he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

Picking up his phone, Stiles smiled as his thumb hovered over ‘Sourwolf’ in his contacts, before sighing and allowing the phone to fall screen down onto his chest. He clumsily removed his shoes and rested his feet against the armrest, gazing at the ceiling.

It had been three years since the incident with the kanima, and most of the pack was attending Beacon Hills Community College for their post-High School education. It kept everyone together just in case some other sort of supernatural creature decides to show up and attempt to slaughter the town. Yes, that was a real scenario they had trained for.

Derek had finally started to take the role of Alpha seriously soon after the Gerard issue, understanding that his betas needed training to fight and protect, not just survive. Stiles was there at almost every training session helping them develop strategies and developing tests to really test their skills.

Somewhere along the way, Stiles had fallen hard for Derek. Not just a crush or pining or something stupid like that, but the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t stop fluttering, his heart would skip a beat whenever Derek walked by, and oh lord, he was just completely smitten with the Alpha.

Late night talks with Derek over the progress of the pack, shopping for Friday pack-nights, the building and designing of obstacle courses; along the way the feelings he had for the older man had just built up until he couldn’t even control them anymore.

And there were times when Stiles was completely positive that Derek felt something for him too. The lingering hand on his shoulder after a successful training session, their knees touching as they sat around the campfire with the rest of the group, and the small smiles that Derek would throw in when he talked to him, smiles he didn’t just give to anyone else.

It drove him crazy how they just seemed to dance around one another, not one of them willing to open themselves up to the possibility of rejection. Which, in Stiles’ opinion, actually hurt more than knowing Derek felt something for him too.

No one was ever interested in Stiles, he was the average looking one of their little clique. He couldn’t pick up a girl when he was hanging out with the guys because, well, they weren’t interested in a scrawny guy with ADHD, they were interested in hard muscles and facial perfection and his life was truly sad.

There were days when Stiles thought of just laying it all on the line, just to see what would happen. But then what? What if he was reading too far into Derek’s attitude towards him and he screwed up whatever semblance of friendship they had created over the years? He couldn’t risk that. He couldn’t risk the only family he had for some stupid feelings that wouldn’t leave him the hell alone.

*~*~*~*

“What are you thinking about? You smell weird.”

Is it true that that phrasing doesn’t even phase him anymore? Yes sire bob it is.

“Nothing, dude when’s the next pack meeting? I have to make sure I’m not working that weekend, which also means I’ll need to take extra hours during the week.”

Scott shrugged and threw is backpack onto the coffee table, going in and grabbing a soda before plopping down next to Stiles.

“We’re a month ahead in payments anyway, don’t stress too much about it. Mom said she’s bringing over dinner tomorrow tonight too.” Scott’s Mom and Stiles’ Dad had decided that it was time the boys experienced the college life. They were renting a small two bedroom house a block away from the college, and loving it. The only issue was, having a part time job and studying was completely different than staying focused on school when living with your parents.

“Yeah, and we should try to stay a month ahead just in case one of us loses our job. And honestly, if I call in again at the last minute, that may just be reality.” Scott bit the inside of his cheek and nodded at Stiles, the werewolf’s eyes drooping slightly.

“Do you ever imagine what it would be like if I hadn’t been bit?”

Stiles grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, shrugging. “I doubt we would have stayed out of that shit storm for long. Derek and Peter still would have had their rage battle going on, the hunters still would have come into town, we would have been idiots and explored the forest and gotten attacked. If anything, we just sped up the process.”

“When did you get so smart?” Scott smiled, curling around a pillow and watching the flat screen Derek had given them as a house warming present.

“When I realized you were some mutant creature of the night four years ago. I’m applauding your obliviousness up until this point.”

Forever a two year old, Scott stuck his tongue out at his best friend and stood up, stretching.

“Derek said he’s coming over to discuss some training strategy tonight. I ordered pizza on my way here, but I’m working tonight. Can I trust you kids to play nice?”

Stiles felt that Scott was switching their personas because Stiles wasn’t the one that accidentally challenged the Alpha last week, splitting the pack up for two days before Stiles could get them to talk it out. “There hasn’t been any manhandling for a few months, so I think we should be safe.”

“I wasn’t really talking about that…” Scott shrugged and opened the door to the pizza guy, paying and opening the box to dig in.

“What do you mean? Derek comes over here all of the time to discuss strategies.”

Stiles’ heart was almost beating out of his chest because Mr. Oblivious himself was making it sound like he knew about Stiles’…thing for Derek.

“Really?” Scott deadpanned, opening an anatomy book and starting to highlight the text. “I don’t have to leave for twenty minutes, so I should be here when he gets here. Until then, you think about what I’m implying while I finish this God-awful reading.”

Shit, Scott was implying what Stiles thought he was implying. And his mind was now talking in riddles. What did he do? Does he talk about it with his best friend or act like he has turned into Mr. Oblivious in Scott’s place? Oh crap…

“I-” Stiles hesitantly started, picking at a lose thread on the couch at the same time. “It’s complicated.”

Scott’s eyebrows raised, and he threw down his highlighter. “How is it complicated? He likes you, you like him, kiss and calm all of the damn sexual tension down. Pack meetings are hell dude, especially when you can smell the emotions in the room. And seeing as the majority of us are werewolves and agree that enough is enough, you need to face this shit and go on with both of your lives!”

“There’s sexual tension?” Stiles’ voice cracked slightly as color began spreading to his cheeks. Maybe Derek did feel something for Stiles then if he was having similar feelings. Unless it was Stiles’ massive unresolved sexual tension was the reason for the room filling. Oh gosh, he was so embarrassed.

“That’s what you picked up out of that entire lecture? Stiles, come on. You see the way he is around you, he treats you like he’s afraid you will break, he trusts you. He doesn’t even do that with me or Isaac and we’re pretty much his second in commands.”

He did have a point. Derek went to him when pack advice was needed and he didn’t have to do that. That’s what the whole pack ranking thing was for.

“That doesn’t mean he likes me though. And dude, when did I become gay?”

Scott’s face went oddly still before he collapsed onto the floor laughing.

“Oh wow, nice one Stiles. I’m leaving, Derek’s here, and seriously. Talk. Everything will work out, I promise.”

Stiles flailed for a moment because werewolf senses are deadly accurate (pun intended), leaving Stiles open to the very real possibility that Derek just heard every word of this conversation. And fucking Scott knew.

Scott picked up his bag and walked out, scooting around Derek and running into the night.

“Hey,” Stiles mumbled, biting into a slice of pizza because honestly that was the only solution to this situation right now.

Derek was silent as he slowly lowered himself down onto the other side of the sofa, a manilla folder with papers clutched in his right hand.

“So what do you have planned for this weekend? We have three days to get everything set up, but we also have to make sure everyone calls in or-” “Stop, Stiles.”

Stiles’ jaw shut automatically, and he couldn’t even bring himself to meet Derek’s eyes. He was mortified, completely and utterly mortified, that he had basically confessed that he liked Derek to Scott for the first time and Derek. Fucking. Heard.

“We can’t,” Derek motioned between the two of them with his hand, pausing to look into Stiles’ now raised eyes. “-be.” Stiles’ heart clenched and he had to bite his tongue so as not to make a sound of complete misery.

“I know,” Stiles whispered, laying his slice of pizza onto the lid of the box. Three words, that was all it took to completely shatter his heart. He couldn’t believe he was pathetic enough to think into this, for believing Scott for all of three minutes.

Silence reigned for a full five minutes before Stiles cleared his throat and picked up the folder resting between the two men. He was sure he was projecting his emotions all over the place, no need to explain anything to Derek.

He read through the first three pages, and then grabbed the highlighter Scott had abandoned on the table. Derek’s shoulders tensed as Stiles opened his mouth, but then drooped as he began adding adjustments to a new plan to patrol the Hale property line. Stiles didn’t have the ability to question just what was going on in the older man’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to even begin fathoming that. He had enough inner turmoil of his own to sort through thank you very much.

When the paper was thoroughly marked up and a plan set and ready to be put into action, Derek stood, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He picked up the folder and tucked it under his arm as he grabbed a slice of pizza and moved towards the door.

“But don’t forget that Scott and Isaac can’t be together because, honestly, they’re too big of distractions for one another.” Stiles concluded, getting up to lock the door after the Alpha. His heart was still aching, even more than just after his revelation, because Derek had only spoken about the plan. There was none of the normal light banter, discussions about the mental health of Jackson or informing the Sheriff or anything. It was all business, and was that all Stiles was good for now?

The ache increased ten fold, and he felt so used. And he hadn’t felt that used since the very beginning of this fiasco, when all he did was research and watch from the side lines as his friends were hurt, almost killed, while trying to protect the town. He couldn’t do what they could, but he tried to help as much as he could. Try as he might, that couldn’t stop his feelings of inadequacy. And that’s what he was feeling here, inadequate to the extreme.

Derek opened the door, but stopped in the threshold, turning back to look at Stiles with hard, serious eyes. “Stiles I-”

“It’s okay,” It’s not okay. “I’m fine,” I’m not fine, talk to me. “I’ll see you this weekend.” Seeing you will kill me, but for you, I’ll do it.

And just like that, Derek turned away, stalking down the driveway, leather jacket pulled taut across his back muscles. Walking away, without a word, without a second glance, turning his back on Stiles.

His throat constricted and his eyes watered because that useless, self-loathing, feeling was back again.

He hated it, he hated it so much.

*~*~*~*

Scott knocks on his door that night around eleven, and doesn’t even wait for an answer before walking in.

“What did you do to Derek?”

Stiles’ head shot up from looking at his textbook, hoping his eyes still weren’t rimmed red. It would only be a matter of time before Scott smelled the salty tears on him, and he didn’t want to look as pathetic as he feels.

“Just drop it Scott,” Stiles whispered, going back to taking notes from his math book.

“I can’t just drop it. He came back to the property and destroyed the living room. Like everything is in shambles, dude. I was just there helping Isaac clean everything up.”

Stiles slammed his hand down onto the desk, standing up. “You want to talk about this Scott, fine. He broke my fucking heart and then still expected me to go on like nothing happened. I can’t do this anymore, okay? This has been my life for four years, and I’m done.” Stiles never yells, and the fact that he is screaming in Scott’s face didn’t make the situation any better.

Scott stood there shocked, his hand coming up to drag Stiles into a hug.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Everything will work out, I promise. He just needs some time to process and then everything will be fine.” Stiles shook his head, a sob escaping his lips and tears running down his face.

“He’s said that we can’t be together with such finality, Scott. There’s no chance at all for me, okay? I basically laid out everything to you and he heard and oh God, Scott, I can’t even take this.” Stiles’ knees grew weak and he collapsed onto the ground, pushing himself back to lean against the wall. Scott dropped down next to him, turning his body to face his best friend.

“Stiles, how much do you like him?” Scott spoke hesitantly, as if waiting for Stiles to combust.

“I love him Scott, I love him so much.” Scott’s face fell at Stiles’ words, and Stiles could just imagine what was going on in his head. Sure, he had thought he loved Lydia, but Lydia was meant for Jackson. Meant as in they needed each other to survive, something so much deeper than love. Stiles was happy for Lydia, she deserved it, especially after Peter used her to bring him back to life.

Stiles didn’t think he was meant for Derek in that same way, but his feelings weren’t just petty. They were something so much more, a spark that couldn’t be extinguished. They physically pained him, left him exhausted, he could barely even function, and he was just realizing this now, after there was no chance for him to be with Derek.

“Don’t give up, okay? You know him, he’s emotionally stunted and can’t express himself. Just give him time, let him process. I know it hurts, but you can’t just shut down.” Stiles shrugged, wiping a hand across his eyes and sighing.

Scott stood and helped Stiles up at the same time, pushing his friend towards the bed. “You’ll wake up and it’ll hurt, it’ll hurt horribly Stiles. But you have us, you aren’t alone. Even if he is our Alpha, you are our friend. We don’t appreciate you enough sometimes, I don’t think. And he doesn’t either, but he will. Promise,” Scott finished as he left the room, closing the door with a click.

Stiles collapsed onto the mattress fully clothed, clicking off the light on his bedside table and enveloping the room in darkness. As he slipped into sleep, he didn’t realize that his phone had fallen out of his pocket and was resting on the carpeted floor. He didn’t see the screen light up as an incoming call registered on the device and the name Sourwolf flashed across the display. And he didn’t see the missed call message close with finality.


	2. Being

It was Saturday, the day of the pack meeting, and Stiles was emotionally and physically exhausted. He had failed an exam the day before in his Psych class, the one he was trying to study for when all of the Derek drama went down. He didn't know more than half of the answers, and he bs'd the other fifty percent of the test.

Not to mention Isaac and Scott had been constantly hounding him whenever the topic of Derek came up (which was a lot more than normal, if he was honest). He would usually just brush them off, but apparently Scott had snooped in his phone and seen the three missed calls Stiles had received from Derek.

“He's trying to talk to you!” Scott had exclaimed, thrusting the phone into Stiles' face in victory. 

Stiles had shook his head, mumbling about him only wanting to talk about the boundaries and the plan. Isaac told him that Derek was miserable, which in turn made everyone else miserable by association.

“Guys, just stop. He's the one that said no to me, not the other way around. If he wanted to talk to me, he'd just come here and talk to me, okay? Now just leave me alone!” Stiles had walked into his room and slammed the door, which lead to Stiles passing out ten minutes later.

When he woke, it was seven at night and wow, was he really that tired? He had slept an extra eight hours on top of the six hours he'd slept last night. His phone was buzzing, and he opened it while rubbing his eyes. It was a message from Derek.

'Where are you?'

Stiles yawned and remembered the pack was supposed to be there at 6:30 for dinner. Oh well, as far as he's concerned they can figure out their own meetings for themselves for once.

Ignoring the message, Stiles took a shower and dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt. He was lounging in front of the TV when his cell phone rang again. Growling to himself, he was surprised to see it was Danny calling.

“Hello?” Stiles answered, fidgeting in his seat slightly. He hadn't spoken to Danny in at least a month, and it was weird actually getting a call from him. “Hey! I was hoping you'd answer. Jackson told me about your whole, situation with, um, yeah. Well he told me, and my boyfriend's friend is coming out with us tonight to the Jungle, so do you want to come with us?”

Stiles' jaw dropped, and he gapped at the phone for a minute before laughing. “You're asking me to go on a double date with you? Really?” Danny laughed on the other side of the phone, but hummed in agreement.

“It doesn't have to seem like a date if you don't want it to be. It could just be all of us hanging out, together.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Good try, Danny boy. But, I might actually take you up on that. I'm bored and nothing is on TV, so why not?”

Danny said something to someone on the other side of the phone, then chuckled as he said to meet them at the Jungle in ten minutes.

Stiles hung up and grabbed his keys and wallet and turned off all of the lights in the house, locking everything up. When was the last time he just went out with people not associated with the pack?

He parked on the side of the building, walking to the front of the club and leaning against the wall next to the entrance. Danny and two other guys walked up not a minute later.

“Hey Stiles! Thanks for coming,” Danny greeted, patting Stiles on the back in sympathy. Stiles shrugged and looked over the two men standing next to Danny.

One had his hand gently rested against the small of Danny's back, and an easy going smile. His black hair was spiked and his nose straight, and those cheek bones, wow. Even Stiles, who was not decidedly gay, could admit that he a fine looking fellow. Wow, and Stiles just called a guy a fellow in his brain. Maybe he wasn't okay with this whole Derek thing yet.

The other was standing with his hands in his pockets, and staring at Stiles. His bright red shirt was hanging loosely over a pair of dark washed jeans with Converse adorning his feet. His hair was brown and he had a light dash of freckles over his nose and cheeks. He was cute and had a nice body, and he looked like he was appreciating Stiles too so maybe they'd get along.

“This is Jay,” Danny motioned with his head towards his boyfriend, “and his friend Chase.” Stiles nodded towards them both, mumbling a greeting, and followed the trio into the club. They headed over to the bar and ordered drinks, Stiles bobbing his head to the techno music echoing throughout the club.

“Have you been here before?” Chase shouted from next to him. “Yeah, but never really to party. Just to hang out. You?” Stiles moved closer to Chase so they weren't having to scream at each other.

“Once before, but it wasn't as full as it is tonight. You wanna dance?” Stiles stared at the man before him with his jaw dropped. Dancing? Stiles didn't dance...

“I'm not a good dancer though,” Stiles bit his lip and tightened his hand around his glass, nervously sipping at the cocktail.

“Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on!” Chase grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the floor, forcing Stiles to put his drink down on an abandoned table.

“I don't think you understand. I really can't dance. I'm a liability on the dance floor actually.” Chase rolled his eyes and stopped in the center of a large group of people. He grasped Stiles' hips and pulled him closer, looking him square in the eyes.

“Feel the music,” Chase whispered huskily into his ear. He hooked his fingers in Stiles' belt loops and began swaying both of their hips to the rhythm. “Don't think, just do as it tells you.” Stiles' breathing began to turn shallow as he moved his hands down Chase's arms, moving them to rest on the other boy's hips as well. 

Stiles closed his eyes and allowed Chase to move him, move them. He bit back a moan as Chase began moving his lips against Stiles' neck, and Stiles couldn't help the heat spreading throughout his entire body, lighting him up. He felt like he was on fire, and he liked it. He wasn't thinking, he was feeling. He was listening to Chase and he really didn't give a fuck about anything except this moment in time, this minute, this second.

The fire kept spreading, from his core to his head down to his fingertips, through his legs, to his toes. He was gasping for air now because he felt as though he was going to combust right there in the middle of a club, dancing with some guy he had known for twenty minutes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice was telling him to leave and go home, to call Derek or hang out with Scott and forget about this guy.

This guy that was now sucking on his neck and riding his shirt up, and how in the holy hell had that only been one songs worth of dancing? The tempo of the next song changed, and fog began streaming down from the ceiling, misters coming on to spray water on the crowd. Hot damn.

The two continued like this for a while, Chase nipping at Stiles' neck and Stiles biting back embarrassing noises that would completely put off the other guy. Stiles didn't know how much more he could take of this contact when Danny sauntered over with a very wet Jay, who was smiling like the cheshire cat.

“You guys want a round on me? Then if you guys want to head out you can,” Danny gave a very pointed look at Stiles' neck, causing the maybe-gay maybe-bi maybe-not guy to blush. Chase gently nudged Stiles' back towards an empty table while Danny went to go get a round of beer.

“You okay?” Chase ran his hand down Stiles' wrist and to his hand, squeezing it gently. Stiles nodded and attempted to control his breathing as Jay smirked at the duo across from him.

“Man what did you do to him Chase? I haven't seen him this quiet in a long time,” Danny stated as he put down a pitcher of beer and four glasses. “We just danced,” Chase smoothly replied, resting his hand on Stiles' knee now. Stiles tensed and released a deep breath, before nodding. “Yeah, dancing. Yup.” 

How the hell could he sound anymore like a damn over-heated girl? He could still feel the heat leaving his body slowly, and the shirt sticking to his chest and the water dripping down his face, and gosh this atmosphere was not helping him think at all.

“Sure,” Danny dragged out, draping himself over Jay. There was silence as they all drank their beers, everyone ignoring the fact that secret touches were so totally happening and-

Something in Stiles' mind clicked. He couldn't do this. He couldn't just give himself to some guy he just met. His virginity was the only semblance of innocence he had left (which was sad for a guy to say, actually), but he didn't want to do anything out of sheer lust. The club was basically built off of lust, if Stiles was honest.

The bare rafters with strobing red lights, the base vibrating the room, the water, oh the damn water, how could water leave you so...wanting. 

“I-uh-actually need to be getting back home. I have an early shift tomorrow, y'know, at my job. Where I work. To make money. To put a roof over my head. Yeah, right. Um, so I'm just going to...go.” Stiles jumped out of the booth and ran for the exit, ignoring the shouts for him to stop from both Danny and Chase.

He stopped next to his jeep and smacked the hood with the palm of his hand. Leaning against the cool metal, he mentally throttled himself. He's such a fucking idiot. He can't even behave like a normal person during a get together outside of the pack. It's like he's an unsocial prick without the wolves around him, just what the actual fuck?

Breathing out slowly, Stiles rubbed a hand down his face. He was sweating and felt sticky and gross and he just wanted to go home. He wanted to lay down on his couch and watch a movie with a tub of ice cream and forget about how he'll be alone forever.

Because he was the king of mess ups. And he could totally see why Derek didn't want to be with him.

Xxxxxxx

Stiles was curled up on the couch with his ice cream when Scott walked in glowering down at Stiles. 

“What?” He blurted out with a dribble of ice cream going down his chin.

Scott's eyes just narrowed further. “You're avoiding him, aren't you?”

Stiles gulped and shook his head. “No, I went and hung out with Danny.” No need to mention he basically was dry sexing up some random guy, but whatever.

“So Danny gave you those hickeys?” Stiles yelped and slapped a hand to his neck. He realized that they were red, but they weren't hickeys. 

“No,” Stiles coughed out, clearing his throat. “No we went to a bar and I was forced to dance. One thing led to another.”

Scott's jaw dropped. “Did you do it?”

Stiles threw his spoon at him in response.

“Holy shit, you did!” Scott exclaimed. “No dumbass, I didn't. I threw my spoon at you in hopes that you'd choke on it and stop talking.”

The puppy dog look lasted for all of three seconds before his best friend sat next to him, staring at him inquisitively.

“It was a guy, I can smell that. But what happened? You smell so depressed, dude.”

“Just-” Stiles started and then stopped, sighing. “Can we not talk about this? I just don't want to think about anything. I want to induce myself into a sugar coma with this ice cream, and sleep for eternity. Okay?”

Scott nodded slowly, looking at Stiles with pity.

“It's not getting better, is it?”  
“Understatement of the century, bro.”

Xxxxxxx

The next day Stiles woke at noon to pounding on the door. He grumbled as he wrapped his blanket around himself, shuffling to the front of the house.

“This better be important. 'm so tired,” Stiles opened the door with half-lidded eyes, yawning.

Derek was standing on the porch, staring at Stiles with a stoic face.

Stiles stared because, he was completely and utterly speechless for once in his life. Except for last night when he was so warm, and really, don't think about that when the man you love is standing right in front of you.

“Um, hi,” Stiles mumbled, taking a step back to let Derek in.

Derek stopped right in front of Stiles as he passed through the archway, staring at the younger man's neck. He closed his eyes, looking completely crestfallen, and Stiles hated it.

“I can explain,” Stiles began, but Derek held up a hand.

“It's okay-” “It's not okay!”

Derek just shook his head and turned to leave.

“Will you just stop and man up for once in your life?!” Stiles yelled, ignoring the prickling in his tear ducts.

Derek stopped and looked at Stiles. He looked shocked that anyone would even talk to him in the way Stiles was, and Stiles knew he was three second away from wolfing out right there in the open.

“Just come inside okay? I lied. I'm not fine, you're not fine, talk to me, okay? I just, I need to talk to you.”

And so they did. Stiles forced Derek to sit down and explain to him why he destroyed his house, why he kept calling Stiles, why he wanted Stiles at that pack meeting yesterday.

“It's because, dammit Stiles I'm not good at this. We can be, okay? We can be together and I won't feel like I'm falling apart when I don't see you for two days. We can be happy and not ignore each other and we won't have to ignore each others stupid gestures and make up reasons for them. We can just be us, together.”

Stiles had to stop himself from sobbing all over the place during Derek's declaration because a hole in his heart was being patched up that he didn't even know had been gaping. Because that meant someone did want him, that he wasn't some unwanted freak, and he didn't feel so useless anymore.

Throwing his arms around the dark haired man, Stiles buried his face in the other's neck, and breathed in the foresty scent of his partner.  
“Hey Stiles?”

“Hm?”

“Where did you get all of these hickeys from?”

And Stiles could just laugh and laugh because he realized that the heat of last night wasn't what he wanted. It burned him, almost like he was physically alight. He wanted the heat he had right there in Derek's arms, the warmth of Derek's chest against his, Derek's breaths huffing on his scalp, and he wanted Derek to induce that scorching heat in him again in the future. Because the next time, he would be ready. 

“Can we just be for a little while longer, and then I'll explain it to you?”

“Sure, let's just be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support of this story! I know the ending was sort of fast, and it doesn't really explain why Derek knew Stiles had been with another guy the night before, but I liked where it went. Derek doesn't speak a lot because Stiles is supposed to do all of the talking. Perhaps I'll do a little outtake of their conversation about Stiles' night the night before as an add on if enough people want it!


End file.
